Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Cadillac and Chevrolet Repair and Service

1911 Chevrolet

1953 Buick Skylark

Some GM history

Wayne's Garage serving Eugene and Springfield, Oregon has been performing GM repair and service since the 1970's. We have experienced technicians to properly service and repair your General Motors Car or Truck

We are an AAA approved Auto Repair shop and have been awarded the Blue Seal of Excellence by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence.

Our technicians are ASE certified

We offer a 24 month/36,000 mile warranty.

We have a courtesy vehicle to get you home or to work.

Your car is hand washed and vacuumed.

Most repairs are completed in one day.

We can perform all maintenance necessary to keep your new car warranty in effect.

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A little General Motors History

General Motors (GM) was founded on September 27, 1908, in Flint, Michigan, as a holding company for Buick, then controlled by William (Billy) C. Durant. Durant had partnered in the mid 1880's with Josiah Dort to create the Coldwater Road Cart Company. By 1890 the Durant-Dort Carriage Company, based in Flint, Michigan, had become a leading manufacturer of horse-drawn vehicles.

Shortly after its founding GM acquired Oldsmobile. In 1909 Durant brought in Cadillac, Elmore, Oakland (later known as Pontiac) and several others. In 1909, General Motors acquired the Reliance Motor Truck Company of Owosso, Michigan, and the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company of Pontiac, Michigan, the predecessors of GMC Truck. In 18 months, Durant acquired a substantial interest in almost 30 automakers. Durant probably made more bad deals than good - many of those companies were subsequently closed. Durant lost control of GM in 1910 because of the large amount of debt taken on in its acquisitions coupled with a collapse in new vehicle sales.

In 1911 Durant partnered with race car driver Louis Chevrolet to form Chevrolet Motor Company and then he started purchasing a controlling interest in GM in 1915. In 1917, Durant was president of General Motors again, and Chevrolet was merged into GM, becoming a separate division. Shortly after, he again lost control, this time for good, after the new vehicle market collapsed.
Alfred Sloan was picked to take charge of the corporation at that time and led it to its post war global dominance.

Buick 1903-
Buick Motor Company, incorporated in 1903 by David Dunbar Buick, a Scottish industrialist in Detroit, Michigan. Later that year, the struggling company was taken over by James H. Whiting who moved it to his hometown of Flint, Michigan, and brought in William C. Durant in 1904 to manage his new acquisition. In 1908 Buick Motor Company was bought by General Motors. In the 1920s Buick was the first to figure out how to successfully introduce four-wheel brakes to mass-produced vehicles.

Cadillac 1902-
The Cadillac Automobile Company formed in 1902 by Henry Leland after re-organization from the ashes of the Henry Ford Company, a business organized by William Murphy to produce a car by Henry Ford. The company was named after Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, who led a French army into the Great Lakes region and founded the city of Detroit in 1701.
Leland sold Cadillac to General Motors in 1909, but remained as an executive until 1917 when he formed the Lincoln Motor Company.

Chevrolet 1911-
In 1911 a well-known race car driver, Louis Chevrolet backed by William Durant started designing a new car. Louis Chevrolet hired a French engineer to help him, and also to assist was mechanic and machinist Henry Winterholf who Louis Chevrolet met while working with the Buick Racing Team.
In 1917 when Durant became president of General Motors again, Chevrolet was merged into GM, becoming a separate division.

Oldsmobile 1897-2004

In 1893, Olds Motor Works, the predecessor of Olds Motor Vehicle was the first American car company to export an automobile. It was a

four-wheeled steam-powered vehicle sold to a citizen of India.
In 1896 Ransom E. Olds built his first gasoline car and in 1897 he formed the Olds Motor Vehicle Company in Lansing, Michigan to manufacture them.
In 1901 Olds became the top selling car company in the United States for a few years with the "Curved Dash Oldsmobile". Officially, the cars were called "Olds automobiles," colloquially referred to as "Oldsmobiles." General Motors purchased the company in 1908. The transmissions in the Olds automobiles were made by the Dodge Brothers.
Oldsmobile, the oldest car company in the GM line was phased out between 2000-2004.

Pontiac 1926 - 2009
Unlike the other GM car lines, Pontiac did not start out as its own company.
In 1909 General Motors bought the Oakland Motor Car Company of Pontiac, Michigan which had been in business since 1907.
In the mid 1920s however a huge price gap had been created between the makes of Chevrolet, Oakland, Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac. To solve this, General Motors authorized the introduction of four companion models priced and designed to fill the gaps. Cadillac would introduce the LaSalle, Buick the Marquette, Oldsmobile the Viking, and Oakland the Pontiac. All of the companion makes failed with the exception of Pontiac which came out in 1926 and outlived its parent Oakland and continued as a GM make.
Oaklands were discontinued in 1931. Pontiac was discontinued in 2009 due to GM's financial problems.

1929 Oakland Landaulette Sedan

Saturn
Saturn Corporation was started by General Motors from scratch in 1985 in response to the success of Japanese and German small-car imports in the United States. It was promoted as a "different kind of car company," Saturn operated outside the GM superstructure for a time, with its own assembly plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee.

GM Chairman Roger Smith and UAW President Owen Bieber drove the very first Saturn off the assembly line in Spring Hill, Tennessee in July of 1990.
The brand was immediately known for its 'no haggle' prices. The first Saturn Model, the Saturn S-Series, was a huge hit.

Soon after the first cars hit the streets of America, favorable reviews start pouring in. Sales were good as Saturn cars started earning one award after another. In 1993, Saturn reported it's first profitable year and everything seemed to be going well for the small GM-owned brand.

In May 1995 Saturn's Millionth car was produced. In 1996, the short lived GM EV1 hit Saturn Showrooms. In 1997, Saturn entered the Japanese market. In January 1999, Saturn rolled out its two millionth car. In late 1999, Saturn began production of its all new L-Series.

In 2000 Saturn introduced its first Compact Crossover Sport Utility Vehicle, the Saturn Vue.

Starting with 2003, sales for Saturns began to dwindle which forced GM to retire several models like the L- series and the Ion.

General Motors tried to sell Saturn in 2009 to Penske Automotive Group.
After that deal broke down in September of 2009, GM said that it would shut down its Saturn division.

Saturn L series